Stokes looking out for number one in Test rankings fight

ENGLAND'S Test captain Ben Stokes has set his sights on taking his team to number one in the world rankings.

- RORY DOLLARD

Sir Andrew Strauss was the last England skipper to reach the summit back in 2011, holding the title for less than a year, but the annual update of the International Cricket Council's table recently catapulted Stokes' side from fifth to second. Only rivals Australia remain above them.

When he took over from Joe Root in 2022, the team had slumped to sixth and their lowest points tally in 27 years, but have since won 22 of their last 35 matches.

With Thursday’s one-off game against Zimbabwe followed by a five-match home series against India and a huge Ashes trip Down Under to come this winter, further successes could lift them back to top.

And Stokes made his ambitions plain in a message to head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob Key.

"When the rankings came out, I did send Baz and Keysy a text saying, 'We've got one more place to go'," he said.

"Everyone knows when things are going well for us, as a team we are incredibly hard to stop. We know it doesn’t always go that way.

"The word 'ruthless, I’m not a big fan of. The words I do love and what I've tried to instil in this team is 'dominance' and 'dominate'.